Most individuals buy and use a hair shampoo for its cleansing properties. In addition to having clean hair, a consumer also desires sufficiently conditioned hair that holds a preset configuration. However, hair shampoos are generally formulated with highly effective anionic surfactants that primarily clean as opposed to condition the hair. Anionic surfactants not only remove the dirt and soil from hair, but also remove sebum naturally present on the surface of hair fibers. Therefore, the desirable cleansing properties of anionic surfactants also can leave hair in a cosmetically unsatisfactory condition. Shampoos also do not detangle wet hair and do not impart residual conditioning benefits to dry hair such as manageability or styleability of hair sets.
In general, shampoo compositions containing anionic surfactants, or nonionic surfactants or amphoteric surfactants, leave hair with an undesirable harsh, dull and dry touch, or feel, after the hair is shampooed and then rinsed with water. Furthermore, thoroughly cleansed hair also is extremely difficult to comb, in either the wet or the dry state, because the individual hair fibers tend to snarl, kink, and interlock with each other. In addition, incompletely dried hair, such as hair dried with a towel, has poor brushing properties, and after complete drying, the hair does not set well. The combing or brushing properties of dry hair remain poor, and the hair has undesirable electrostatic properties in a low humidity atmosphere that causes the hair to xe2x80x9cfly awayxe2x80x9d thereby further reducing the brushing properties of the hair.
The unsatisfactory combing or brushing properties of hair immediately after shampooing or during trimming treatments after shampooing also causes hair damage such as split ends or hair breakage. In addition the natural luster and resiliency of hair is reduced. The overall unsatisfactory condition of shampooed hair often makes necessary a subsequent post shampoo treatment of the hair with a conditioning composition to improve these undesirable physical characteristics. Conditioning compositions typically are applied separately from the hair shampoo, and usually are rinses, cream-like emulsions or lotions containing a cationic compound.
Therefore, the consumer has traditionally shampooed the hair to cleanse the hair, and followed this with the application of a conditioner composition to improve wet combing. The commonly accepted method has been to shampoo the hair, followed by rinsing the hair, and then applying a conditioner composition, followed by a second rinse. The wet combing problem has been solved by treating shampooed hair with a conditioner composition that coats the hair shaft and causes individual hair fibers in to resist tangling and matting because of the conditioner residue retained on the hair shaft.
Conventional leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioners rely on fatty alcohols to build viscosity, and on alkyl quaternaries and silicones to provide conditioning. While these conventional leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioners, do condition the hair, the fatty alcohols tend to deposit on the hair surface along with the conditioning agents, thereby weighing down the hair. Therefore, hair that has been conditioned with these conventional leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioners tends to have less body than unconditioned hair.
It would be desirable to develop a leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioner composition that does not thereby substantially decrease natural hair body. It would also be desirable for a leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioner to incorporate a water-soluble styling resin, to deliver a hair styling benefit. It would also be desirable to provide such a leave-on or rinse-out styling conditioner at low cost. Compositions of the present invention have these properties.
Publications related to the invention are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,114 discloses hair treatment compositions for temporarily coloring the hair which contain a polymer and a metal containing pigment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,218 discloses stable conditioning shampoos containing a compatible anionic surfactant/cationic conditioning agent, non-volatile silicone emulsion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,337 discloses compositions which comprise from about 0.25% to about 70% of a copolymer component comprising from about 1.5% to about 70% of a silicone-grafted adhesive hair styling copolymer having a weight average molecular weight from about 300,000 to about 5.000,000 and from about 30% to about 98.5% of a hydrophobic volatile solvent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,565 discloses cosmetic compositions based on cationic silicone, water-soluble heteropolysaccharide and electrolyte.
The present invention relates to a leave-on or rinse-out hair conditioning composition, which comprises:
a) a silicone quaternary compound;
b) a cationic thickener; and
c) a carrier, wherein said carrier is selected from the group consisting of water, a hydroalcoholic solvent and a mixture thereof;
and wherein said composition is substantially lacking in fatty alcohol.
The present invention also relates to a method for conditioning and styling hair which comprises contacting said hair with an effective amount of a composition of the invention.
As used herein % means weight % of the total composition, unless otherwise indicated. xe2x80x9cFatty alcoholxe2x80x9d means an alcohol of 8 carbons or more. xe2x80x9cSubstantially lacking in fatty alcoholxe2x80x9d means a level of fatty alcohol in the composition that is so low that upon use on the hair, said fatty alcohol does not cause the hair to lose its natural body. Usually the level of fatty alcohols in the compositions of the invention is less than about 0.2% fatty alcohol. More preferably, compositions of the invention has than 0.1% fatty alcohol or less than 0.05% fatty alcohol. The term xe2x80x9cleave-onxe2x80x9d refers to a hair care composition that is applied to the hair and not further subjected to a rinsing step. The term xe2x80x9crinse-outxe2x80x9d as contrasted with the term xe2x80x9cleave-onxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean compositions which are used in a context whereby the composition is ultimately rinsed or washed from the hair either after or during the application of the product.
Leave-on or rinse-out compositions of the invention may take the form of providing the hair with styling benefits, and in particular allowing the hair to retain a given style for a longer period of time. In this context the word xe2x80x9cstylexe2x80x9d is given its usual meaning in the art, which is the act of creating a style in the hair, often after some initial drying. In any event the act of styling usually requires that the hair retain a given configuration, with individual hair shafts generally retaining their configuration relative to each other.
The benefits from compositions of the invention may be derived whether the hair is dried with a hair dryer, or allowed to dry naturally.
Traditional hair conditioning compositions rely upon fatty alcohols to build viscosity. However, fatty alcohols tend to deposit on the hair surface along with the conditioning agents resulting in less body than unconditioned hair. The compositions of the invention are substantially lacking in fatty alcohol and thereby avoid this problem. After treatment with compositions of the invention, hair is left with more of its natural body.
The starting materials used in preparing the compositions of the invention are either known or can be prepared according to known methods. Compositions of the invention can be prepared by known methods, or by methods that are analogous to known methods.